Los Angeles DUI Criminal Defense

September 9, 2013

Will Lamar Odom’s Los Angeles DUI Break Up His Marriage with Khloe Kardashian?

It’s been less than a week since Lamar Odom’s Los Angeles DUI sent the blogosphere and twittersphere into a reporting frenzy.

But, already, celebrity reporters and pundits are speculating on how Odom’s DUI will impact his marriage to reality star Khloe Kardashian. The 29 year-old Khloe has not been keeping quiet over her marital displeasures. She confessed over Twitter: “As much as I wish I were made of steel … I am not.” She then tweeted: “I’m pretty damn close to it though, hehe.”

Odom and Kardashian went home in different cars on Friday, August 30th, after Odom’s Los Angeles DUI arrest. Photographers have not seen Lamar or Khloe together, although one intrepid paparazzo saw Odom renting DVDs at a blockbuster in Calabasas.

The 33-year-old NBA superstar has been embroiled by private life problems, including an accident on the 101, before his August 30th DUI. Radar Online reports that Odom got kicked out of the house and had to retreat to his bachelor pad. Sources told Radar Online that the ex-Laker/Clipper “was on his way back to his bachelor pad in downtown, Los Angeles… Khloe… was [pretty likely] asleep and had no clue he left.” Radar Online also reported that Odom got kicked out of the couple’s mansion in Tarzana because he had an affair.

A California Highway Patrol spokesperson described additional details about Odom’s DUI arrest: “Lamar Odom was driving 50 miles per hour on the 101 freeway. He was driving in a serpentine manner, which is pretty bad… Across all lanes on the freeway. I’m surprised he wasn’t rear ended.”

Since Odom refused to take a chemical test for DUI (such as a Los Angeles DUI blood, breath or urine test), his license was automatically suspended for a full year. Bad decisions can compound themselves – that’s why it’s useful to speak to a Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer ASAP.

As Odom and others arrested for driving under the influence of Southern California can attest, situations can easily go from bad to worse. During of times of turmoil, it’s useful to turn to people with experience to get through your crisis.

That’s why so many defendants have had such good experiences working with attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Mr. Kraut is a seasoned, battletested ex-prosecutor (Harvard Law School educated) who regularly serves as a commentator for ABC News, the Los Angeles Times, and other big media to discuss news stories about DUI in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

September 7, 2013

Sordid Southern California DUI Case – Sheriff’s Deputy “Sold His Badge” to Bust Three Men for “Dirty DUIs”?

by Michael Kraut

Most Southern California DUI arrests are fairly straightforward. For instance, maybe a police officer stopped you at a checkpoint on Westwood Boulevard after a UCLA game. Or maybe you got into a fender bender on Vermont near USC and got busted after you punted your field sobriety tests.

But some DUI stories are intense, enigmatic… almost worthy of their own mini series.

File in that second category the story of Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Deputy Stephen Tanabe!

The 50-year-old Tanabe stands accused of seven federal charges for his role in staging three separate DUI arrests. Tanabe allegedly worked with Christopher Butler, a private investigator. Butler worked for a string of divorced women, who wanted to make their ex-husbands look bad, so that they could have stronger positions in their divorce and custody cases.

Tanabe and his friends apparently worked with Butler to encourage these unassuming ex-husbands to consume alcohol at bars and then drive. Once the men left, waiting police officers immediately pulled them over and busted them for DUI. According to Tim Pori, Tanabe’s attorney, Butler was the real “masterful manipulator” behind the scenes. Indeed, the PI may have played a role in 9 other “dirty DUI” arrests in California on top of the ones that Tanabe allegedly participated in on November 2, 2010 and January 9 and 14, 2011.

As a reward for his participation, Tanabe apparently got a pricey Glock gun and cocaine.

Butler and Norman Wielsch, an ex-drug squad commander, are both testifying for the prosecution in Tanabe’s case to get a reduced sentence. Wielsch is serving 14 years in jail, and Butler faces an eight year prison sentence for crimes ranging from staging DUIs to extorting money from employees of an “illegal massage parlor” that the two men founded.

Tanabe, for his part, faces three wire fraud charges, three counts of extortion, and one count of “conspiring to deprive others of his honest services.”

Your Southern California DUI charges: Were you framed? Was any police misconduct involved?

Most Los Angeles DUI cases are straightforward. Most police officers are honest. They work hard to keep the community safe and protect people on the roads.

This isn’t to say that police officers don’t make mistakes (ranging from big Constitutional sized mistakes to smaller errors of process and procedure) or that the technologies they use (e.g. breathalyzers, blood tests, etcetera) are foolproof. Far from it!

But odds are high that your DUI was not “dirty.”

That said, you owe it to yourself and your family to explore all Los Angeles DUI defenses. For instance, if you blew a 0.10% on the breath test – well over the legal limit, as defined by California Vehicle Code 23152 (b) – your attorney might challenge the test results by a variety of strategies, outlined in this website.

For help, look to Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. As a Harvard Law School educated Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer who worked for 14+ years as a prosecutor, Mr. Kraut understands how to structure and execute effective defenses.

September 2, 2013

Hollywood DUI Update on Linda Hogan’s Case: Hulk’s Ex-Wife Finally Pleads Guilty to DUI Charges

by Michael Kraut

Breaking Hollywood DUI news — Linda Hogan, ex-wife of WWE Star, Hulk Hogan — has plead guilty to charges that she drove on the influence in October 2012.

The reality star had publicly and vigorously claimed innocence, asserting that she “had only drunk one glass of champagne,” before police stopped her on the westbound 101 in her black Mercedes Benz. At the time, her BAC tested at 0.084% — just over the legal limit for Hollywood DUI (0.08%), per CVC 23152(b).

In exchange for Hogan’s guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop one of the two misdemeanor DUI charges against her. She also got three months of alcohol classes and three years of probation.

Hogan (whose real last name is Bollea) starred with the Hulk (a.k.a. “Terry Bollea”) in the short-lived but much gossiped-about reality show, Hulk Knows Best. Their show – and marriage – ended in 2007. Linda then commenced a relationship with a 23-year-old, Charley Hill. They briefly got engaged, but then broke it off.

One reason why Hogan’s arrest caused so much ruckus in the blogosphere is that it coincided with the release of Hulk Hogan’s sex tape on YouTube. The 59-year-old Hogan was filmed performing a sex act with Heather Clem, former wife of DJ Bubba The Love Sponge, Hulk’s best friend.

Linda expressed shock about the sex tape. She said she found it “a little twisted,” especially because the Hogans, Clem and Bubba the Love Sponge had all been close friends.

So essentially: private and public theatrics galore.

Of course, if you’ve recently been arrested for DUI in Hollywood, you‘re probably less interested with the tabloidy exploits of realty stars and wrestlers then you are with building a sound and rigorous defense. After all, Hollywood DUI charges – even first time charges – can be punished with jail time, probation, license suspension, mandatory alcohol school, compulsory interlock ignition device installation, fines, fees, and more.

To build an intelligent, energetic defense, talk to the team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today. Mr. Kraut is a former prosecutor with 14 plus years experience on the “other side,” and he can adeptly represent Southern California criminal defendants.

August 30, 2013

Los Angeles DUI for Lamar Odom: Career Ender for Former Lakers and Clippers Star?

by Michael Kraut

At 3:56am this morning, Lamar Odom was stopped and arrested in the Valley for driving under the influence in Los Angeles. Odom spent over 31 hours in jail before he was released on a $14,000 bond. His court date has been set for September 27.

Police stopped the 6’10” forward — who played pro ball for 14 years for the L.A. Lakers and the Clippers — after officers saw his white Mercedes weaving all over the 101. Cops tried to pull him over, but he kept driving past Van Nuys and Woodman Ave. He finally stopped at Coldwater Canyon and submitted to field sobriety tests. (The “FSTs” can include balancing tests, like the stand on one leg test, as well as tests of mental acuity, like the count backwards from 100 by 3s test).

Per a CHP report, Odom didn’t exactly pass his exams with flying colors:

“[Odom showed] objective signs of intoxication and was unable to perform field sobriety tests as explained and demonstrated.”

Sometimes factors such as fatigue, nervousness and general lack of coordination can explain why people fail FSTs. As a pro athlete, Odom would have a hard case to make that “general lack of coordination” screwed him up on the FSTs. Of course, he HAS been struggling on the court recently. One anonymous NBA executive told the Los Angeles Times “Lamar can’t play anymore.” The once highly celebrated forward put up lousy numbers (for him) last year with the Clippers, “averag[ing] career lows in points (4.0), assists (1.7) and minutes (19.7).”

Since Odom refused to take a DUI breath test or DUI blood test, his CA driver’s license was automatically stripped from him for a full year. If he’s convicted of Los Angeles DUI, he’ll face more than just the “standard” punishments for misdemeanor DUI, which can include jail time, fees and fines, mandatory DUI alcohol classes, probation, and license suspension. He’ll also face possible disciplinary action from the NBA… assuming he’ll be signed as a free agent, which is not guaranteed.

Days before his Los Angeles DUI stop, Odom got into a fender bender on the 101 with Adolfo Flores, a sports reporter for the L.A. Times, in the car with him.

Several months ago, he got into a major fight with a paparazzo, who had been pestering Odom about rumors that the b-ball star had been cheating on his celebrity wife, Khloe Kardashian Odom. Enraged, Odom allegedly threw a bag of the photographer’s stuff onto Hollywood Blvd. (The D.A. didn’t have enough evidence to file charges in this case.)

In the wake of the arrest and other off-the-field shenanigans, Odom’s high profile pals from the basketball world weighed in with words (and tweets) of concerned support.

Magic Johnson, the most famous Laker of all time, tweeted: “I hope my man and former Laker, Lamar Odom is doing okay,” to which Phil Jackson tweeted” “Double ditto, LO.”

If you’ve recently been arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles, you probably need smart, effective legal representation to protect you against dire legal consequences (only some of which are described above.) Trust Harvard Law School educated attorney, Michael Kraut, to construct a powerful and savvy defense for you. Mr. Kraut is a former Deputy District attorney for Los Angeles (14+ years as a prosecutor) who has racked up a stellar record as a Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer. He’s also a regular DUI commentator on national news programs, such as Good Morning America.

August 28, 2013

Miguel Jontel Pimentel Arrested for DUI in Los Angeles

by Michael Kraut

Miguel Jontel Pimentel – better known just as “Miguel” – was recently arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles, according to California Highway Patrol reports.

The singer-songwriter and Grammy winner — known for singing hits like Kaleidoscope Dream and creating “Adorn” and “#Beautiful” with Mariah Carey — got pulled over in his 2013 BMW X6 in Marina Del Rey. Police stopped the 27-year-old at the intersection of Mindanao Way and Lincoln Boulevard at around 2 AM on August 12.

The police tested Miguel’s BAC at 0.10%, just a smidge above the Southern California DUI legal limit of 0.08%. The officers also said that he smelled like alcohol – one of the main symptoms of Los Angeles DUI. (Other symptoms include slurring of words; providing conflicting events of what happened; acting aggressively or inappropriately; bloodshot eyes; lack of balance; forgetfulness, etc.).

Miguel was released on a $5,000 bond later. He is due in court on September 9 to face his charges.

It’s a serious step down from winning a Grammy for best R&B song and getting nominated for Best Rap Song and Song of the Year. But Miguel’s DUI arrest shows convincingly that no one is above the law and that being famous does not protect you from making bad or dangerous decisions.

Interestingly, Miguel’s BAC readings — he allegedly blew 0.10% and 0.11% on two breath tests — were not that far over the legal limit.

Depending on the circumstances, Miguel may be able to challenge those Los Angeles DUI results. For instance: it’s unlikely, but perhaps Miguel was on a crash diet or a ketogenic (very low carb) diet, in which case metabolic byproducts from the dieting might have unduly influenced the breath results.

Alternatively, perhaps the police officers asked him to blow very hard into the machine. If you blow hard into a DUI breath test, you can elevate the results beyond your actual, legitimate levels.

A breathalyzer test can also be challenged on procedural grounds. For instance, perhaps the tests weren’t calibrated correctly.

To build a defense to your Los Angeles DUI charges, get in touch with Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today. Mr. Kraut is an ex-prosecutor who spent years serving in role of Senior Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles – so he knows how prosecutors think, and he can use his knowledge and relationships to help you craft your defense.

August 21, 2013

Your Los Angeles DUI Versus the First Ever DUI in Human History

by Michael Kraut

As someone who just got pulled over for DUI in Los Angeles, you’re intensely aware of the serious trouble that faces you. Whether you got “just” a misdemeanor DUI by violating California Vehicle Code Section 23152(a) or 23152(b) – or you caused injury and face a felony per California Vehicle Code Section 23153(a) or 23153(b) – you face a litany of a scary penalties, such as:

• Mandatory alcohol school;
• Big fines and fees;
• Jail time;
• The court can force you to install an ignition interlock device in your car, which means that you cannot drive your car unless you “blow a sober breath” into a machine that you pay to install and maintain;
• High insurance rates (almost inevitable after you get a Los Angeles DUI conviction);
• Driver’s license suspension;
• Massive additional penalties, if you ever get convicted again for a DUI or anything else – the court does not take recidivism lightly;
• Indirect problems regarding your social life, your relationships, your job, your self-esteem, and your long-term future.

That’s all for a first time DUI, mind you.

So how does your situation stack up against the first ever DUI driver’s? That honor belongs to George Smith, a taxi driver from London, who was busted at the age of 25, after he crashed his cab into a building on September 10, 1897. His penalty? A fine of just 25 shillings.

The first DUI laws here in the United States didn’t go into effect until 13 years later, in 1910. The earliest prototype of the modern breathalyzer — called the Drunkometer (which is kind of a cool name) — was patented in 1936 by Dr. Rolla Harger, a toxicologist and biochemist. The Drunkometer wasn’t a particularly useful piece of equipment, and it took nearly 20 years – until 1953 – for a professor and police captain from Indiana, Robert Borkenstein, to modify the Drunkometer into the breathalyzer.

Borkenstein’s device was capable of being used in the field to (somewhat) gauge whether or not a driver was under the influence and to quantify that DUI on an objective scale.

Over the next six decades, the breathalyzer evolved, and other types of tests, including the DUI blood test, came into vogue. On our Los Angeles DUI blog, we’ve discussed many times how and why even the most sophisticated DUI tests can fail. These reasons range from officer errors to machine/calibration errors to data analysis flubs to peculiar, idiosyncratic “stuff” — such as the fact that diabetics can exhale compounds that fool breathalyzers into thinking that they are under the influence of alcohol.

The point is that DUI law in Los Angeles and beyond has gotten more sophisticated since 1897. But DUI science is still a very imperfect science.
Connect with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today for assistance with your DUI case. Attorney Kraut is a very experienced and highly regarded Los Angeles DUI defense attorney. He also served as a prosecutor for many years, and his prosecutorial knowledge and connections can help inform your defense.

August 7, 2013

DUI in Los Angeles and Committing Acts of Animal Cruelty?

by Michael Kraut

The act of driving DUI in Los Angeles is dangerous enough. But when you combine a DUI charge with animal cruelty, the situation is almost unspeakable.

People do bad things, for reasons both understandable and opaque. Bearing that in mind, let’s take a look at a recent Los Angeles Weekly story about a local man named Thomas Naylor, who was arrested on July 7th, after witnesses saw him drive DUI on Washington Boulevard. They say Naylor stopped his car, and took out a “severely ill” dog named Cruiser, and dumped the dog on the ground. Fortunately, people saw this happen, and they took the dog to get emergency veterinary care. The animal was ultimately stabilized.

The outcome was not as positive for Naylor, however.

Police tracked him down and arrested him. He was charged with DUI, driving without a license, and intimidating witnesses as well as animal cruelty. Naylor recently pled no contest to the animal cruelty charge as part of the plea deal, and he got the other charges dropped. Naylor still faces a hefty sentence, however — a full year in county jail along with three years of formal probation.

Plus, he is no longer allowed to own a pet, and he must pay for the poor pit bull’s hospital bills.

The story does have a silver lining: Cruiser managed to heal from his sickness and get adopted into a new home.

Do Los Angeles DUI drivers always receive such hefty punishments?

One year in county jail is a long time. You can earn nearly that amount of jail time just for a conviction of a misdemeanor DUI, per California Vehicle Code Section 23152(a) or 23152(b).

But punishment for Los Angeles DUI is not just limited to jail time.

Other kinds of nastiness may await you, even for a first time, non-injury misdemeanor DUI:

• The court may compel you to pay for and install an interlock ignition device (IID) in your vehicle. This machine will prevent you from operating your car or truck, unless you blow a sober breath into the machine;
• Mandatory alcohol education school;
• Spikes in your auto insurance rates (almost inevitable, if you’re convicted of DUI);
• A California driver’s license suspension;
• Stringent terms of probation;
• Serious court costs, fees, fines, etc.;
• Points on your license;
• Ratcheted punishments if/when you ever get arrested and convicted again for DUI or other crimes in Southern California.

So what can you do?

First and foremost, if you haven’t spoken with an experienced Southern California DUI defense attorney, connect with one ASAP. Michael Kraut is a Harvard Law School educated former prosecutor who has a wide range of experience with DUI cases. When he was a prosecutor, he earned a success rate in jury trials in excess of 99%. Connect with attorney Kraut now for help.

June 19, 2013

How Much Damage Did Your Beverly Hills DUI Cause? This Guy’s Cost $60 Million!

by Michael Kraut

Even a first time Beverly Hills DUI misdemeanor conviction can lead to substantial jail time, hundreds of dollars in fees, required installation of an IID device in your vehicle, and mandatory alcohol classes.

Your insurance rates may also go up precipitously. (Imagine if you had to pay $2,000 or $3,000 or more every year in car insurance… just because of your DUI!)

These costs don’t even touch on the harder to measure indirect costs, such as a job loss, trouble with your marriage or key relationships, and so forth.

But even if your Beverly Hills DUI accident caused a LOT of damage — for instance, maybe you fishtailed off Wilshire and smashed into the facade of the Beverly Hills Hotel — what you did wouldn’t hold a candle to what John Cota did.

On November 7, 2007, Cota, a 60-year-old ship captain, plowed a tanker containing 53,000 gallons of oil into a bridge’s support tower… while DUI and/or on drugs. The accident drenched the San Francisco Bay in oil, destroyed tons of wildlife (literally), and tarnished beaches for miles around. Officials later said the crash caused the deaths of 2,000 birds and cost the local government $60 million to clean up.

Cota took a test two hours after the accident. Police failed to find intoxicating substances in his blood, although recent evidence suggests that he had been taking a variety of medications for migraines, anxiety, and pain. These meds easily could have interacted to interfere with his driving/boating performance. Coast Guard officials later suggested that Cota’s prescription medications likely impaired his judgment. (If you or someone you know has been arrested for drug DUI in Beverly Hills, the team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help.)

Eight years prior, Cota was booked on DUI charges. His struggle with alcohol and his history of taking strong medications are both well documented.

Picking Up the Pieces After Your Beverly Hills DUI: What Will YOUR Punishment Be?

In the abstract, it’s practically impossible to even “ballpark” what your Beverly Hills DUI punishments might be. Factors that the justice system will take into consideration include:

• Your previous DUI history (if you have any);
• The severity of the crash;
• Your BAC level;
• Whether you committed other crimes while DUI, such as hit and run;
• Whether you got overly aggressive with police officers;
• Whether the officers calibrated and conducted your BAC and blood alcohol tests correctly and Constitutionally.

No legal team can guarantee results, but your choice of Beverly Hills DUI lawyer can matter – substantially. Connect with a former prosecutor and highly educated Beverly Hills DUI attorney, Michael Kraut, for insight into your situation and help moving beyond your humiliating and scary experience.

June 14, 2013

Crocs Founder, George Boedecker, Gives Clinic on How NOT to Handle a Los Angeles DUI Arrest

by Michael Kraut

If you’re a multimillion dollar entrepreneur, who can afford a 2010 Porsche Panamera, you’d probably be able to handle a Los Angeles DUI arrest with a fair amount of grace. Right?

Not necessarily.

Being rich, famous and well-connected does not inoculate you from behaving like a raving toddler. When those red and blue police lights light up behind you, anything can happen.

Case in point: George Boedecker, the founder of Crocs. The 51-year-old shoe mogul got arrested a few years ago in Colorado, after a witness saw him passed out behind the wheel of his black 2010 Porsche Panamera. According to the Denver Post, when police arrived, Boedecker greeted them with a slew of profanities. Reports from both TMZ and the Huffington Post suggested that Boedecker was on quite a blue streak that night:

• Per TMZ: “he told cops to “f**k” themselves “in the a**”;
• In response to a request for his address, he allegedly said “I have 17 f**king homes”;
• He also told police officer that he was dating pop singer Taylor Swift — his “really f**king famous” girlfriend;
• At first, Boedecker claimed that she (Swift) was driving the vehicle, but then the officer asked the shoe mogul where she was. He said “Nashville”… and then called Swift “bad s**t crazy.”
• In addition to being uncooperative, Boedecker exhibited other symptoms of being DUI. The police arrested him, his protest that he “knew [his] f**king rights” notwithstanding.
• In response to a request to complete a field sobriety test, Boedecker responded “I am not doing your f**king maneuvers”;
• He even told one police officer that he was “his enemy for life” and earnestly hoped that the officer would “f**king die.”

The DUI was not the first time Boedecker had run into problems with the law. Back in 2006, he called his sister’s ex-husband and threatened him, allegedly saying “I’m going to slit your throat.” After that, he was arrested and charged with threatening bodily injury and misdemeanor trespassing.

Ironically, he also heads up a philanthropy group, the Boedecker Foundation, which, per the foundation’s website, has “a broad charter to empower communities and inspire positive change around the world.”

Boedecker no doubt easily made his bond of $500.

But the most delicious piece of irony comes from the website The Smoking Gun, which said that the officer who tagged him for DUI said he was wearing flip-flops – not crocs!

Did you do “dumb stuff” after your Los Angeles DUI stop?

If so, appreciate that you’re not the only one in history to have “screwed up.” That said, the actions that you take now (or fail to take) can have an outsized effect on your ability to avoid jail time, and reduce your overall pain and frustration.

A Southern California DUI defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you get a handle on what your charges mean and what you can do to fight back against them. Connect with Harvard Law School educated Kraut and his experienced team now for assistance.

June 7, 2013

DUI in Los Angeles News of the Weird (Part III)

by Michael Kraut

In this Los Angeles DUI blog’s last homage to Funny Or Die’s October 5, 2010 article, “The 6 Weirdest DUI Arrests Ever Made,” we’re going to take a look at two more crazy cases and extract general lessons from them.

Weird DUI #5: Russian soldier, under the influence, smashes a tank through a villager’s home.

At first blush, this story seems to be some kind of anti-Soviet propaganda. But apparently it happened.